Sunshine & Mint is about blogging, small business, awesome food, attempting to be crafty, and generally making life work one day at a time.

February 18, 2016

I'm in the process of moving my website to a new hosting service and shutting down my Typed account. There will be more silence for another day or two before I'm back at it. You may even see the Sunshine and Mint domain go down for a bit, but never fear! I'll be back up and running shortly.

February 03, 2016

It's been a while since I've set monthly goals, and I'm feeling put together enough to get back into it. February will be simple, because I need simplicity right now. I need time to breathe and get my head back together. I need time to just be. February will help me rediscover that.

Take a lunch break. Even if it's just 15 minutes, I will get away from my desk. Maybe I'll walk, maybe I'll read, maybe I'll just take a power nap in the car. I just need to get away for a few minutes each day.

Knit 20 rows a week to make progress on my scarf.

Read one book. Just start with one...

Hit my move goal on my watch every single day this month (barring any crazy illnesses).

An oldie but a goodie: Coffee at home, not from the gas station every morning.

January 29, 2016

Ali Edwards runs a fun class each year that encourages participates to choose one word to help guide the year ahead and provides prompts and journaling ideas for each month. Most of the participates do some form of scrapbook or Project Life book for the OLW class, but my creativity doesn't exactly lay in that medium. The best way for me to work with the OLW class is through word, so each month I'll work my way through the prompts here. If you missed it in a previous post, my word for the year is open. I'm not a closed-off person, but there are many times where I could be more open to new things, new ideas, and new experiences. I'm choosing to have a more open mind this year and to be more open as a person.

January is all about showing up and being present in the OLW community.

"A mind is like a parachute. It does not work if it is not open." - Frank Zappa"Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light will not come in." - Alan Alda

invitation

This year I want to new adventures and new ideas into my life. I don't want to get too specific right now. I want to invite everything so I can decide what to allow in and what to not. How can I be specific when I want to be open to new things that I may have never dealt with before?

let go

To be more open this year, I need to let my guard down a little bit and let go of any preconceived notions I may have about things I have never experienced or have experienced in a limited fashion. I need to let go of my control sometimes, because always having control doesn't allow me to open up to the new.

reason why

I've been so involved in my everyday life that I never stopped think about how closed off I've become. I wake up, go to work, come home, and go to bed. I do the same things at home. I cook the same style of food (usually). I go to the same bars with the same people. I think I'm open, but I actively seek out ways to keep my routines. There is nothing wrong with having a routine, but every once in a while that routine needs to open up to the new. You never know what you are missing out on when you don't allow yourself time to be open and see something new in life.

January 27, 2016

Remember when I said I wanted to eat more fish this year? Yeah, this is the way to eat fish. I've always loved salmon, but crisping up that skin really added more to the dish. I found this recipe on Bon Appetit and added my own spin with the addition of spicy harissa on the salmon. Also, ignore my torn off skin. I hesitated posting this picture, but I'm a home cook who has blunders and is proud of this dish.

First, make the yogurt sauce. Combine everything in a bowl and set aside.

Cut the salmon into 4-5 filets, if not already cut. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and spread the harissa on the side without skin. Heat the oil in a skillet pan until shimmering. Place the salmon skin side down in the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes. Don't disturb the salmon while it cooks and you'll get a nicely browned skin. Flip the salmon and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. The salmon should be opaque at the center. Drizzle the salmon with olive oil, sprinkle on some additional salt, and serve with the yogurt sauce.